First, it finalized a Nov. 4 ballot that does not include a referendum he championed to limit the terms of legislators. And it allowed on the ballot a Libertarian candidate who could undermine his support among conservatives.

The move by the eight-member board came as the state Supreme Court was silent on Rauner’s plea for it to take a stand allowing the measure on the ballot that would limit the terms to eight years.

Unless the Supreme Court orders the initiative added to the ballot at a later date, the ticket approved Friday will stand, State Board of Elections information director Jane Gasperin told The Associated Press.

The ballot, one of the heftiest in Illinois history, leads off with five referendums aimed at boosting turnout among the Democratic base, which typically drops off in nonpresidential elections.

Ballot questions approved by the Democrat-controlled Legislature in the spring range from whether Illinois should raise the minimum wage to requiring prescription birth control to be covered in health insurance plans to whether the state should place an additional tax on income over $1 million to fund education.

Then come races for U.S. Senate, governor, statewide constitutional offices, and congressional and state legislative races.

In the nationally watched governor’s race, board members voted to not include Green Party, Constitution and independent bidders for governor on the ballot because the parties gathered an inadequate number of required petition signatures. However, they allowed the Libertarian ticket, Chad Grimm and Alexander Cummings, alongside Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti, and Democrats Gov. Pat Quinn and Paul Vallas.

Third-party candidates typically take about 5 percent of the vote, with recent election history showing their ability to swing a very close race. In 2010, Quinn defeated Republican Sen. Bill Brady by less than 1 percent of 3.6 million votes, with independent, Green and Libertarian candidates receiving 7 percent of the total.

Karen Yarbrough, the Democratic recorder of deeds for Cook County, challenged the validity of the Greens’ signature petitions. Democrats were concerned that a Green candidate could divert votes from Quinn. The Green Party had more than the 25,000 signatures required from non-established political parties that received less than 5 percent of the popular vote in the previous election. But Yarbrough challenged 12,000 of those signatures.

The Green Party, in turn, filed a federal lawsuit aimed at the process. A judge rejected that suit Thursday, on the grounds that the state constitution calls for a party to collect a certain number of valid signatures.

Grimm, a 33-year-old Peoria resident, has made previous bids for state representative and Peoria City Council. He is running on a platform that includes eliminating state income taxes and privatizing education. He also calls for the eliminating regulations on firearms — other than gun owners being at least 18 — and “ending the war on marijuana.”

Rauner held a news conference Friday to continue to push the court to take up the term-limits measure. He said he believes voters would overwhelmingly approve the initiative, which would limit legislators to eight years in office, increase the size of the Illinois House, reduce the size of the Senate and make it tougher for the Legislature to override a governor’s veto.